Review: Oniken: Unstoppable Edition (PlayStation 4)

When a global war nearly decimated humankind, an evil military organization called Oniken takes advantage of the situation to dominate and oppress the few remaining survivors.

Pros:

66.24mb download size.

8 Bit style graphics.

CRT TV filter-on/off.

Retro Chiptune soundtrack.

Action-platformer gameplay.

Platinum trophy.

Contra feels to it.

Proper nice cutscenes.

Arcade presentation.

Pickups are in-game for grenades/health.

Big boss fights.

A mix of platforming and auto scrollers.

Constant checkpoints.

Fun to play.

Cons:

No, tell on boss damage.

Respawns are not instant.

Difficult.

Grabbing platforms and getting up them is tough.

No replay value.

Lacks leaderboards.

Never sure when you trigger a checkpoint.

8/10

Graphics - 8/10

8/10

Sound - 8/10

8/10

Accessibility - 8/10

7/10

Length - 7/10

8/10

Fun Factor - 8/10

7.8/10

Summary

Oniken is another modern game attempting to recreate the feel and presentation of games past. It nails the presentation with jaw-dropping visuals especially in the cutscenes, the gameplay is solid and has a lot of niggles and gripes so maintaining the retro feel checks out. It’s a difficult game and the boss fights, in particular, are tough, I got strong Contra vibes from it and appreciated the difficulty and overall playstyle but the controls and ledges especially wore out on me. Glad I tried it but for me, it doesn’t offer much in terms of new advancement.

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Gaming since the Atari 2600, I enjoy the weirdness in games counting Densha De Go and RC De Go as my favourite titles of all time. I prefer gaming of old where buying games from a shop was a thing, Being social in person was a thing. Join me as I attempt to adapt to this new digital age!